Experience an intimate live performance inside the historic Hyde Street Studios with violinist Anthony Blea & percussionist John Santos, two of the Bay Area’s preeminent practitioners of Afro-Cuban traditions. 

At Hyde Street Studios | 245 Hyde St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Thursday December 5, 2024 | performances at 6:30pm & 8:30pm

As part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, the Tenderloin Museum presents another installment “Hyde Street Studio Sessions,” an intimate live music experience that gives music lovers and history buffs alike the opportunity to experience a local legend perform inside the iconic recording studio (formerly known as Wally Heider Studios) that is responsible for the “San Francisco Sound.” On December 5, 2024, violinist Anthony Blea and percussionist John Santos lead a Latin jazz quintet for two hour-long sets of music and storytelling, recounting their experiences recording at the TL’s historic studio. 

As two of the Bay Area’s preeminent practitioners of Afro-Cuban traditions and masters of Latin jazz, Blea and Santos have been musical collaborators for decades both on and off the record. Their collective recording credits at Hyde St. Studios are vast and stylistically diverse; however, for this installment of “Hyde Street Studios Sessions” the duo will undoubtedly focus on two records cut at Hyde St. by Orquesta Batachanga. La Nueva Tradicion (1982)and Mañana para los Niños (1985) mixed traditional rhythms with contemporary sounds and significantly influenced the Bay Area’s Afro-Latin music scene. 

The Orquesta Batachanga / Hyde St. Studios connection came to TLM’s attention thanks to Josealberto “Beto” Salazar, longtime Tenderloin resident and co-host (with his father Alberto) of the superlative Discomovil Salazar, a weekly radio show on Psyched! Radio SF that features “tropical music from all over the world.” So, we’ve asked Beto to lead a conversation with Blea & Santos during each set to get the history of Orquesta Batachanga recording at Hyde St. in the 1980s and to trace their influence into the present. 

Not only will audiences be up close and personal with these Bay Area musical luminaries, they will also get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at an active recording studio and the dedicated crew of engineers and musicians that create and sustain musical community in the heart of the Tenderloin. Nestled in what was historically San Francisco’s entertainment district, Hyde Street Studios has been an active recording studio for over 50 years, and throughout that time has stood as a bastion for working musicians, creative collaboration, and independent artistry. Blea, Santos, & their band will play two (separately-ticketed) sets on the floor ofStudio A, Hyde Street’s main live room that drips with vintage vibe and resonates with over 50 years of musical history. The venue is unique, site-specific, and, given the nature of the space, close quarters–there are only 20 seats available for each set!

Click here to learn more about John Santos and here for more on Anthony Blea.

This program is made possible by support from the Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment. 

Seating is limited | Tickets $40 via Humanitix

“The dean of postmodern lounge jazz swing singers” Mr. Lucky brings his ace group of local luminaries–The Cocktail Party–to the Tenderloin for a Concert at the Cadillac! 

Friday September 20, 2024 | 1:00 - 2:00pm

At the Cadillac Hotel | 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Mr. Lucky has been a character on the San Francisco music scene for decades. Pierre Merkel got his start as a lounge singer haunting the strip of bars that served the after-theater crowd in the “Tenderloin heights” such as the Curtain Call and the Blue Lamp. At those bygone joints, Merkel would sing jazz standards in a sharkskin suit while mixing martinis onstage, and thus Mr. Lucky was born. His act “tunes up” the Great American Songbook with an energy informed by performance art as much as Ellington and Mancini. 

His popularity took off from out of the underground during the swing craze of the 1990s, and Mr. Lucky has performed at practically all of San Francisco’s iconic venues–Bimbo’s 365, Club Deluxe, Flower Piano, etc.--except (until now) the Cadillac Hotel! Mr. Lucky’s longtime band, “The Cocktail Party,” was assembled in 1998 by Bay Area legends J. Raoul Brody and Ralph Carney. Today, the group features some of the Bay Area’s best musicians:

Joshua Raoul Brody: 'The Maestro' on piano,

Michael Groh: humming on guitar,

Randy “Ring-a-ding” Odell:  swell on drums,

Joe Quigley:  eclectic bass (Lisa Loeb’s ‘Stay’),

Jeff Hobbs:  terrific on violin and cornet,

and…Jamin ‘Sudsy’ Barton:  San Francisco’s hot-shot one-man-band on Theremin, saxophone, saw and more…!

Merkel’s intrigue extends beyond his musical persona: he worked for years as a private investigator in SF and is also an accomplished visual artist. But above all, Mr. Lucky is a lover of all things San Francisco, in particular the Tenderloin (and specifically original Original Joe’s on Taylor Street). Don’t miss this special performance of a San Francisco original at the Concerts at the Cadillac, presented in collaboration with the Tenderloin Museum as a “Sounds of the Tenderloin” live music program. Funding for this series is provided by Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment.

Free | All Welcome!

The annual Neon Speaks Festival comes home to the Tenderloin Museum for a celebration of the historically inspired Tenderloin/Cadillac neon sign! Ft. a sign seminar with SF Neon, a DJ set by celebrated SF songwriters & neon aficionado Chuck Prophet, plus food & drink.  

Thursday September 12, 2024 | 5:30-7:30pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Hosted by Al and Randall of SF Neon, “Tenderloin Neon & Punk” highlights the crowning achievement of the long and rich collaboration between SF Neon & the Tenderloin Museum: a 25-foot neon sign proclaiming "The Tenderloin". The recently illuminated, historically informed Tenderloin/Cadillac neon sign proclaims our neighborhood’s rich neon lineage by re-instituting a lost landmark while acknowledging the solidarity of the Tenderloin community today. Learn all about this extraordinary sign and its journey into existence, the story of which is a masterclass in the history, craft, and culture of neon in SF. 

To celebrate the feat that is the Tenderloin/Cadillac sign, Al and Randall have invited their friend and neon aficionado Chuck Prophet. Chuck will be spinning LP’s and singles from the golden era of SF Punk and Proto-Punk. Many of which were recorded right here in the cool grey city of love, the greatest city in the union to live and dream. In addition to being a neon enthusiast, Chuck Prophet has long been an essential voice in the San Francisco music scene. Prophet is a prolific songwriter who records and performs with Stephanie Finch in their band Mission Express. Bona-fide Frisco-philes, Prophet and his band often celebrate our town in their music–Prophet’s 2012 album Temple Beautiful is “open love letter” to San Francisco. Those songs later formed the basis for an epic concert-film made at, in our opinion, SF’s most iconic venue: the Great American Music Hall located right here in the TL! 

Come celebrate the sign and San Francisco in the beating heart of the city! Tickets include food and drinks. This is both a “Sounds of the Tenderloin” live music program and an official event of the Neon Speaks Festival & Symposium, in proud partnership with the Tenderloin Museum. Check out the full schedule in September of events and in-person tours at neonspeaks.org

$20 | Register via SF Neon’s Eventbrite

Andrea Horne shares stories from her extraordinary life and histories of inspirational Black trans luminaries from the past, interwoven with performances of her favorite jazz standards. Organized in honor of the inaugural celebration of Transgender History Month at the state level, and co-presented by TLM & Transgender District.

August 15, 2024 | 6-8pm

at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Andrea Horne is a repository of trans history and community knowledge. She is a writer, educator, social services worker, social justice advocate, historian, poet, and as the program title suggests, a person with a deep and energized connection to the past and to our ancestors: a “voodoo woman.” Horne channels her many talents and experiences into an evening of storytelling and song for a special Transgender History Month edition of TLM’s ongoing Sounds of the Tenderloin program series, presented in collaboration with the Transgender District.

Originally from Los Angeles, Andrea Horne moved to San Francisco at the suggestion of her fabulous friend Sylvester. Her colorful past includes stints as an actress, model, and singer, but importantly she has 40+ years of experience living and working in SF, supporting transgender women in the Bay Area, most recently in a role right here in the Tenderloin at Curry Senior Center. She is a member of the Trans Advisory Committee, part of San Francisco’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, and in 2022 she received SF Pride’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Bayard Rustin Award for her education work in LGBT history. Passionate about Black trans history, Horne is currently writing a book on the subject, with a focus on Black trans women who lived from 1836 to 1936. She possesses a singular, personal, and expansive perspective that illuminates Black trans history from the Tenderloin and beyond.

August is Transgender History Month, a month in which Transgender San Franciscans honor the rich history and contributions of transgender historymakers, pioneers, trailblazers, and affirms the ongoing presence of transgender people in San Francisco and around the world. First acknowledged in 2021 by Mayoral Proclamation in San Francisco, this year marks the inaugural celebration of Transgender History Month at the state level, the fruit of years of advocacy on the part of San Francisco’s trans community and allies. Tenderloin Museum is proud to partner again with our neighbors the Transgender District for a celebration of community at the intersection of art and history. This program and the current season of Sounds of the Tenderloin programs are supported by the Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment.

$10 | Register Here | NOTAFLOF: email info@tenderloinmuseum.org for assistance

LaborFest returns to TLM for a program about San Francisco’s Musician Union, the historic integration of its Black and white locals in 1960, and the fight against segregation ft. the rare documentary “Commemoration of a Merger” ft. Earl Watkins, Vernon Alley, and other local legends.

Thursday July 18, 2024 | 6-8pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

In the early 20th century, the Tenderloin was densely packed with clubs, cabarets, theaters, and all sorts of venues that featured live music. Before electric instruments and the proliferation of jukeboxes, bands needed to be BIG to fill the air for the neighborhood’s robust nightlife. So, naturally, the Musician’s Union would build its stately Union Hall for its mighty workforce in the heart of San Francisco’s entertainment district: the Tenderloin. From 1925-1998, American Federation of Musicians AFM Local 6 was headquartered at 230 Jones in a beautiful 20,000 sq. ft. Sylvain Schnaittacher-designed brick building that featured a ballroom, rehearsal spaces, offices, a rec room, and even a cigar stand. Yet despite the glitz and glamor of these high times for the AFM 6, it had a dark side: the union practiced outright segregationist policies, barring African Americans from membership and the better paying gigs in downtown hotels and clubs. 

LaborFest, San Francisco’s annual month of grassroots labor programs, returns to the Tenderloin Museum for a look at the Musician’s Union history, in particular its fight against segregation and the historic integration of the Local 6 with the Black “subsidiary” Local 669 in 1960. Organized by LaborFest’s Steve Zeltzer and musician Jimmy Kelly, this public program is anchored by a rare documentary made by Zeltzer for the Labor Video Project in 2010, commemorating the 50 year anniversary of the merger of the Local 6 & Black Local 669. A panel discussion/presentation will follow, surveying other accounts and recent scholarship about this critical overture in the Musician’s Union’s history. All this, plus live music, because there must always be a song when musicians gather!

Presented in conjunction with LaborFest & AFM. This year, LaborFest is commemorating the 90th anniversary of the historic San Francisco General Strike and the West Coast Maritime Strike in 1934. This strike not only won a union hiring hall for the longshore workers but also led to hundreds of thousands of workers joining unions not just San Francisco but in Northern California. Visit laborfest.net to see the full schedule for this year’s offerings and to learn more/support this SF institution!

Register via Humanitix | $10 (NOTAFLOF / email info@tenderloinmuseum.org)

The Sunday Streets Tenderloin Community Block Party transforms Golden Gate Ave. into a car-free community space featuring free recreational activities, health resources, music, dance, and family-friendly fun. Stop by the Tenderloin Museum’s table for local history highlights & a family friendly activity. 

Sunday June 23, 2024 | 12-5pm | TLM-organized performance by DOTCOM & THE NOISE | 4:20pm

Golden Gate Ave. between Hyde & Jones Streets 

The annual Sunday Streets event gathers a who’s who in the Tenderloin for a walkable, family-friendly street fair highlighting all of the good things happening in the neighborhood. Celebrate with us on June 23rd by coming out to the TL Community Block Party!  From 12-5pm, Golden Gate Ave. between Jones & Hyde will be transformed into a car-free community space featuring fun, free activities provided by local nonprofits, community groups, and small businesses. Along with many friends and neighbors, TLM will be tabling and sharing highlights of the neighborhood’s colorful history. Check out Sunday Streets SF’s website for more info about this particular event and the work of Livable City to  reclaim car-congested streets for community health, transforming them into car-free spaces for all to enjoy.

As part of its ongoing Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, TLM presents a set by DOTCOM & the NOISE on the APICC Stage as the finale to a day full of live entertainment. Dotcom is a talented, Tenderloin based singer & songwriter who performs regularly with iconic TL groups like the GLIDE Ensemble & Skywatchers. Dotcom’s own musical project, DOTCOM & THE NOISE, couples his exuberant, soulful vocal stylings to the grooves and improvisations of a funky jazz ensemble. In collaboration with a four piece band featuring Lise Ramaley (bass), A.C. Lewis (drums), Ben Paul (keys), and Don Ferguson (strings), Dotcom summons a stirring repertoire of classic soul music, channeling the unbridled intensity of Screaming Jay Hawkins, the cool groove of Bill Withers, and the profound beauty of Nina Simone. This live musical performance is made possible by funding from the Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment.

Free! No registration required!

Celebrate disco-soul legend and San Francisco icon Sylvester with the Transgender District and the Tenderloin Museum. Join us for a screening of Unsung: the Sylvester Story (2010), live music by Sylvester collaborators Jeanie Tracy & LZ Love, plus a discussion with Andrea Horne, and Minister Marvin K. White (GLIDE), moderated by the District’s Co-Executive Director Breonna McCree.

Thursday May 30, 2024 | 6-9pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

In collaboration with the Transgender District, Tenderloin Museum presents Sylvester, the Queen of San Francisco, a public program celebrating the supreme diva of disco with an emphasis on Sylvester’s connections and legacy in the place and community both organizations call home, the city’s Tenderloin/Mid-Market area. We’ll be screening Unsung: Sylvester, a rare 2010 documentary that survey’s Sylvester’s remarkable life story, in conjunction with a live musical tribute by two of Sylvester’s musical collaborators Jeanie Tracy & LZ Love, plus a discussion with both performers, artist, activist, and local historian Andrea Horne, and GLIDE’s Minister Marvin K. White, moderated by the District’s Co-Executive Director Breonna McCree. In addition, Dark Entries Records, Sylvester’s TL-based indie label, and the GLBT Historical Society, home to much of Sylvester’s archival materials, will share rare photos, footage, and ephemera to this celebration. 

The program is part of the Transgender District’s Empowerment Month, a “time dedicated to fostering growth, resilience, and positive change within our community.” The District’s Empowerment Month is not only a series of events and initiatives but also a commitment to empower each other, lift up voices that may have been marginalized, and create an environment where everyone feels valued, supported, and capable of achieving their goals. The Queen of San Francisco is presented as part of the Tenderloin Museum’s ongoing “Sounds of the Tenderloin,” a series of public programs that seeks to animate the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live music. Sylvester’s music remains ubiquitous on dancefloors to this day, and both his personal and artistic legacies draw a line through the milieu of the Tenderloin, the city’s queer underground, its emergent LGBTQ movement, and into the mainstream. Click here to read the full program description.

Register via Eventbrite | Free or Suggested Donation ($10 or more!)

Psyched! Radio SF, an independent non-profit radio station & prolific promoter of local live music with roots in the TL, hosts its first ever “Tenderloin Music and Arts Festival'' over Memorial Day weekend. TLM is proud to host a Psyched!-curated performance that spans darkwave, goth, minimal synth, and other punk-inflected, genre-defying sounds ft. EX-HEIR, 55 Castles and Bat Noise.

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Saturday May 25, 2024 | 4-9pm

Founded by a diverse group of music lovers, Psyched! Radio SF is an independent 501c3 non profit DIY radio station that also produces live shows, DJ nights, films, music videos, live performances, and short films; Psyched! hums with a punk rock ethos and a hyper-local, community-forward zeitgeist that exemplifies the beauty and diversity of San Francisco’s underground. Many in the Psyched! crew live and maintain their artistic practice(s) right here in the Tenderloin, arguably the heart of SF’s underground, and over Memorial Day Weekend, this radical grassroots media outlet/community formation is producing its first ever “Tenderloin Music and Arts Festival,” a sprawling, neighborhood-wide counter-cultural happening that invites everyone to “unite through music, art, and community, celebrating resilience and advocating for change.” 

The Tenderloin Museum is honored to take part in the Psyched!’s TL Music and Arts Fest, hosting an evening of live music that bridges punk rock and performance art through a mingling of darkwave, goth, and minimal synth esthetics.  EX-HEIR, 55 Castles, Bat Noise, and Renee Black (DJ set) will perform at TLM for a special Saturday evening public program on the main floor of the museum. This show, like all of Psyched! TL Music & Arts Festival programming, is free and open to the public, supported by a mini-grant from the Tenderloin Community Benefit District by way of SF’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

Free! | Register via Eventbrite

TLM hosts a block party in Myrtle Alley–the outdoor space adjacent to The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot’s new venue at 835 Larkin–to gather our community, give friends & neighbors a chance to learn about play’s upcoming production, and request free/sliding community tickets, DJs, live music, and drag performances.

May 11, 2024 | 1-4pm

Myrtle Alley at Larkin St.

Perhaps you’ve heard that a new production of The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play is in the works? Not only is the Tenderloin Museum bringing this immersive theater piece back to life, and we’ve been working to create a permanent home for the play in a long vacant commercial to create a dedicated venue and truly immersive environment for this powerful story. The space is located in the neighborhood where the eponymous riot went down, on a block of Larkin St. that’s having a resurgence of queer community and queer-owned business like Rosebud Gallery, Moth Belly Gallery, Dark Entries Records, and the Bob Mizer Foundation/The Magazine.

The Compton’s creative team has nearly completed the transformation of 835 Larkin St. into the Compton’s Cafeteria, and we’re ready to give people a sneak peek! Powered by a TLCBD Mini-Grant through the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Tenderloin Museum hosts an Open House & Block Party on the afternoon of May 11th, featuring live music and DJs, drag performances, info and artwork from our neighbors, as well as an opportunity to request free/sliding scale community tickets for when the play officially opens this fall. 

ft. drag performances by Donna Personna, Shane Zalidvar, Collette LeGrande, Coco Buttah, & Mary Vice + live music by Kippy Marks, Myles Cooper, & Steve Fabus

Free! All welcome!

Pianist James Washington performs a set of jazz standards and improvisations for a special Concert at the Cadillac, presented in collaboration with the Tenderloin Museum as a Sounds of the Tenderloin live music program.

Friday April 26, 2024 | 1:00 - 2:00pm

At the Cadillac Hotel | 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Sounds of the Tenderloin & the Concerts at the Cadillac series come together again to produce a performance by James Washington, a talented pianist influenced by classical music and jazz who wields a quiet virtuosity with both standards and improvisations. A lifelong musician, Washington started working at a young age as a ballet accompanist in New Jersey, Boston, New York, and eventually San Francisco. All the while, he was adjacent to the world of jazz, which increasingly informed his musical practice. He developed a playing style with a rich harmonic vocabulary and complex structure that is clear and soulful. His phrasings and touch are limber, as if learned from a dancer. Over the years, Washington has been heard by thousands in San Francisco in clubs, cafes, churches, and hospitals both as a solo performer and in combos. A longtime Tenderloin resident, Washington will share a set of solo music on the grand piano in the heart of the neighborhood–the lobby of the historic Cadillac Hotel on Friday, April 26th in concert with this year’s “I Love Tenderloin Week.” 

Free! All welcome! No registration required!

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers opens a second season of TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series with a extended set & ensemble for a very special Concert at the Cadillac, the long-running concert series geared to the residents of the historic hotel that is also the physical home of the Tenderloin Museum!

Friday August 11, 2023 | 1:00pm - 2:30pm

At the Cadillac Hotel | 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 (next door to the Tenderloin Museum)

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers got their start as a band in the late 1980s performing at The Blue Lamp, a long running Tenderloin dive bar that catered to the theater crowd and a hard crowd of local regulars. Ever since, Lavay and bandleader Chris Siebert have cultivated the big band sound in SF, and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers often feature an intergenerational mix of players, the more senior of whom had roots in the Fillmore’s robust jazz scene and who form the bedrock of the jazz community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many years and career milestones later, Lavay & her band still hold a lot of love for the TL, and on August 11th they’re going to play it out loud at the Cadillac Hotel for an extended Concert at the Cadillac with an extended horn section to create an extra large big band sound!

Free | All Welcome | Mask Wearing Required

The Sunday Streets Tenderloin Community Block Party will transform Golden Gate Ave. into a car-free community space featuring free recreational activities, health resources, music, dance, and family-friendly fun. Tenderloin Museum will be tabling and presenting a “Sounds of the TL” live music program ft. The Four Fives.

Golden Gate Ave. (between Jones & Hyde streets)

Sunday June 4, 2023 | 12-5pm

Live musical performance by The Four Fives at 3pm

It’s the 15th year of Sunday Streets in San Francisco! Celebrate Tenderloin style on June 4th for a Community Block Party–from 12-5pm, Golden Gate Ave. between Jones & Hyde will be transformed into a car-free community space featuring fun, free activities provided by local nonprofits, community groups, and small businesses.

Tenderloin Museum will be tabling at the TL Community Block Party sharing neighborhood history, info about upcoming programs, and a “Sounds of the Tenderloin” musical performance by The Four Fives, the brainchild of artists Rasul Grayson and Chris Burch, aka Goya Goon, who’s resplendent 2021 mural “Jupiter Redding, returned, endowed with everything that this world denied them.” looks out over the intersection of Turk and Leavenworth in the heart of the TL. Influenced by inherently Black American genres that emerged when music media was limited to 33, 78, and 45 RPM vinyl playback, ‘The Four Fives’ infuse jazz, blues, soul, and hip hop in a way that re-envisions and redesigns the boundaries of hip-hop through poetry and storytelling, with testimony to the ever-evolving ode to Black radical imagination.

FREE!

San Francisco Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus and Freedom Songs Revival converge for a joint concert that shares the tradition of song in working class culture and surveys their local living canon of labor songs plus a program of civil rights music. 

Saturday, February 25, 2023 | 3pm - 4:30pm

At the Tenderloin Museum 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Free!

Coming together in song is a primal act of solidarity. For those who work and organize workers, songs are powerful units of cultural transmission and tools for building labor movements. Whether from the folkways or on the picket lines, labor songs not only are integral parts of the working class culture that sustained robust union activity in the 19th & 20th centuries but also tell the history of that culture and usher it into the present. 

Tenderloin Museum welcomes the Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus and Freedom Songs Revival for a joint concert in celebration of Education for Action: California Labor School 1942-1957,TLM’s collaborative special exhibit with the Labor Archives at SFSU. Both of these labor choruses have deep roots in the Bay Area’s contemporary community of labor activists (as well as abundant overlap between their members & activities), and are uniquely suited to perform in an homage, continuation, and extension of the choral and labor song traditions practiced by CLS.

A free musical performance featuring top talents in Bay Area jazz, vocalist Tiffany Austin & Destiny Muhammad, plus Tenderloin Voices, an original song cycle by Larkin Street Youth Artists & Composer/Trumpeter Sarah Wilson.

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Doors at 1:45pm | Performances from 2pm - 5pm

at GLIDE Memorial Church, 330 Ellis St. SF, CA 94102

Tenderloin Museum is honored to present its “Sounds of the Tenderloin” live music series in the Glide Memorial Church, a nexus for the history, community, and action that exemplify the Tenderloin’s potential for empowerment and transformation. Featuring an encore performance of the original song cycle Tenderloin Voices alongside sets by harpist Destiny Muhammad and vocalist Tiffany Austin, the program seeks to explore GLIDE’s core values by putting them into musical action.

Learn more about these projects and performers here.

Entry is free. Registration is encouraged but not required. Please visit: https://tlvoices.eventbrite.com 

Please note that all attendees will need to wear a mask and provide proof of vaccine for entry.

Inspired by the “People’s Songs Branch” gatherings at the California Labor School, San Francisco’s radical workers’ school with roots in the TL, Tenderloin Museum presents an inclusive group sing-a-long exploring labor songs, work songs, and more. 

Thursday January 5, 2023 | 5:30-7:30pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St, San Francisco, CA 94102

FREE

To celebrate the opening of the special exhibit Education for Action: California Labor School, 1942 - 1957 (in collaboration with The Labor Archives and Research Center), Tenderloin Museum is hosting a sing-a-long in lieu of a reception so as to capture the participatory & inquisitive spirit of CLS, explore a wide-open repertoire with of labor songs, and gather with the purpose of singing together. 

This event will utilize the In Song Sing On songbook, an ever growing collection of well loved and newly loved songs selected by a wide cast of contributors and compiled by artists David Wilson and Colter Jacobsen. Books will be passed around with lyrics, some guitar strummers will help hold the tune, and we will open up our voices toward one another. For this iteration of In Song Sing On, Wilson will be joined by fellow interdisciplinary artist Raphael Villet & will focus on labor songs and songs about work. All are welcome and encouraged to sing and to bring a song to share!  

5th Annual Tenderloin People’s Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony

Ft. TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin all star DOTCOM

Friday December 16, 2022 | 5pm

At Boeddeker Park (corner of Eddy & Jones)

Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to be a part of the 5th Annual Tenderloin People’s Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony at Boeddeker Park! Organized by the Tenderloin People’s Congress with TNDC, SF Recreation & Parks, the TLCBD, & Friends of Boeddeker Park, this holiday gathering is an opportunity for the neighborhood to come together and celebrate the season. The event will feature performances (& food!) by several of the Tenderloin organizations, as well as appearances from State Senator Scott Wiener & D5 Supervisor Dean Preston. 

The Tenderloin Museum has arranged for one of the standout musicians featured in our Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, DOTCOM, to perform a couple of songs in the program! DOTCOM was a longtime member (& celebrated soloist) in the GLIDE choir and recently captivated the audience at the Dodge Alley Block Party with his band, The Noise. 

All this, AND Santa Claus. Join us for this special Tenderloin holiday tradition! The program begins at 5pm.

The Tenderloin Museum presents funky Cuban jazz ensemble Obryzon in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District.

Thursday December 15, 2022

Performance 6-7pm; Block Party from 5-8pm

Dodge Place, San Francisco, CA 94102

Free! Outdoors!

Over the course of a year of Sounds of the Tenderloin, one face appeared again and again in the bands booked to pay homage to the TL’s legendary nightlife and music scene by activating the neighborhood with live music: Obrayan Calderon. Originally from the province of Mayabeque in the Municipality of Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba, Calderon is an accomplished trombonist, pianist, percussionist and singer who has recorded extensively and toured internationally with several Cuban popular orchestras (Adalberto Alvarez y du Son, Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco, and Juan Carlos Alfonzo y su Dan Den) as well as with many Bay Area musical luminaries (Jesus Diaz, John Santos, Fantastic Negrito). For the final Dodge Alley Block Party of the year, Obrayan Calderon will present his own group, Obryzon, that mixes Afro-Cuban sounds with some of the styles and influences he’s picked up as one of the Bay’s hardest working horn players. This performance is one of several Thursday night activations organized by the TLCBD to transform Dodge Place, a neglected alleyway in the Tenderloin, into a healthy and aesthetically positive community experience for nearby families and seniors.

The Tenderloin Museum presents Agua Pura in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District.

Thursday November 17, 2022

Performance 6-7pm | Block Party from 5-8pm

Dodge Place, San Francisco, CA 94102

Free! Outdoors!

Agua Pura is a San Francisco based all femme salsa band founded on the idea of diversity and inclusivity. Invoking “divine energy,” this 10-piece ensemble plays a stirring mix of Afro-Latinx musical styles: cumbia, rumba, and son. Their shows are electrifying and infectious, and a joy and passion for the music is palpable on the dancefloor as well as the bandstand.

Agua Pura exploded onto the city’s live music scene during the strange era of loosening pandemic restrictions, establishing their prowess through weekly gigs at Radio Habana in the Mission as well as residencies at mainstays for SF’s best gigging musicians like Madrone Art Bar & The Rite Spot. Agua Pura performs with great frequency and it shows–the band is tight!--but in addition to an abundance of talent, the group’s enthusiasm for making music together is evident, whether in the club or out on the street. Featuring Rebecca Rodriguez on congas/vocals, Mena Ramos on timbales, Esther Isabel Santamaria on bongo/hand percussion/vocals, Amanda Magaña on hand percussion/vocals, Lily Stern on bass/vocals, Luna Celi on keys/vocals, Kyana Orellana on trumpet, Gaby Aldaz on trombone, Eos Black on baritone sax/vocals, Jackie Corona on hand percussion/vocals.

Join us and the residents of Dodge Place to reclaim this alleyway for the community, socialize with friends & neighbors, and move to the music of una divina banda del sabor: Agua Pura! All are welcome at Dodge Place on Thursday, November 17th from 5-8pm, with the musical performance from 6-7pm. Free to attend; food & drink by Shovels Bar & Grille available for purchase.

The Tenderloin Museum presents 10-piece reggae band ELeNA in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District.

Thursday October 27, 2022

Performance 6-7pm; Block Party from 5-8pm

Dodge Place, San Francisco, CA 94102

Free! Outdoors!

ELeNA is the musical project of David Saenz, a familiar face in the Tenderloin because of his many years producing and engineering records at the historic Hyde Street Studios. ELeNA’s sound is rooted in reggae music, but this high-energy 10-piece outfit traverses ska, cumbia, latin jazz and hip hop with a punk rock edge. Lyrically, the band discusses the worlds’ social political and ecological problems, interpersonal relationships issues, and love. This performance is one of several Thursday night activations organized by the TLCBD to transform Dodge Place, a neglected alleyway in the Tenderloin, into a healthy and aesthetically positive community experience for nearby families and seniors. The October 27th block party sports a “Carnival Night” theme, so in addition to live music, TLCBD will be hosting a variety of activities and games such as bingo, a ping-pong tournament, air hockey, skeeball, ring toss, basketball, & arcade games. Join us and the residents of Dodge Place to reclaim this alleyway for the community, socialize with friends & neighbors, and rock with the big band champion sound of ELeNA!

Tenderloin Museum & Hyde Street Studios announce the Hyde Street Studios Anniversary Concert to celebrate the legacy of creative collaboration, musical diversity, and sonic innovation in the neighborhood.

Saturday October 1, 2022 | 8pm-12:30am

Alcazar Theater: 650 Geary St. San Francisco, CA 94102

$25 | Tickets via Eventbrite

Ages 21+

Presented as part of TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin series and a Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Out of the Park concert, the program features a range of talent who have recorded at the studio performing their music live at the Alcazar Theater.

Featuring Jimmie Dale Gilmore, co-founder of Texas based alt-country forefathers The Flatlanders, local alt-rocker Forrest Day & jazz master Richard Howell, a “Hyde Street Revue” featuring Hop Sauce, Chris von Sneidern, Pamela Parker’s Fantastic Machine, & Michael Ward with Dogs and Fishes. A “superjam” closes out the night, an homage to the free spirited musical trips that defined the studio’s legendary reputation and unique sound.

Tenderloin Museum presents Lavender Country & Brontez Purnell in concert at the Phoenix Hotel as part of the Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series.

September 25, 2022 | 3 - 6pm

601 Eddy St, San Francisco, CA 94109

$12 | Tickets via Eventbrite

This program brings together two maverick, transgressive artists–one a country singer, the other a punk rocker–whose performance practices resound with the iconoclasm & resistance that evince the glimmer in the Tenderloin’s grit. The venue shares in that spirit, too: the 1950’s-era motor court hotel is a shangri-la in the central city, and has long been the preferred boarding house of bands traveling through SF thanks to its tour bus parking and proximity to iconic venues and studios. A rock and roll vibe is evident at the Phoenix Hotel, and music history practically seeps out of the walls and floats in the pool.

The Tenderloin Museum presents Free Press Music in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District.

Thursday September 22, 2022

Performance 6-7pm; Block Party from 5-8pm

Dodge Place, San Francisco, CA 94102

Free! Outdoors!

Free Press Music is a Filipina American led San Francisco based music collective with roots in soul, jazz, blues and improvisation. Vocalist/songwriter Christie Aida and her group conjure a deep and dynamic repertoire that constellates sounds from around the globe. Singing in Spanish, Tagalog, English and French, Aida deftly interweaves her wide ranging influences to create a delightful and surprising mix of classics, deep cuts, and original numbers. Those originals often are informed by her sensitivity and advocacy for community organizing, social justice, and housing as a human right. As such, the stories, struggles, and everyday life experiences of Tenderloin and SOMA residents, in particular Filipinos and other communities of color, crop up in FPM’s music; for example, the narrative of the Tenderloin Museum’s physical home, the Cadillac Hotel, is the subject of a song “Reality House.” The song celebrates the residents and the history of the Cadillac, including one resident who practices harm reduction by using Narcan regularly to help others in crisis.

The Tenderloin Museum presents Banda Sin Nombre in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District.

Thursday August 25, 2022

Performance 6-7pm | Block Party from 5-8pm

Dodge Place, SF, CA 94102

Free! Outdoors!

Banda Sin Nombre combines folk music from around the world with performance art, drag, and dance. Their singular synthesis of everything from Peruvian chicha to Catalan rumba and Appalachian old time to cumbia sonifies the wide open spirit of multiculturalism exemplified in the Tenderloin and San Francisco at large. With creative roots in San Francisco’s Mission District, the band features rich vocal harmonies with acoustic instruments including guitar, fiddle, charango, jarana, cajon, upright bass, and saxophone.

This performance is one of several Thursday night activations organized by the TLCBD to transform Dodge Place, a neglected alleyway in the Tenderloin, into a healthy and aesthetically positive community experience for nearby families and seniors. It’s also part of TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin series, which animates the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live performances that explore, deepen, and complicate participants’ understanding of Tenderloin history while supporting local working musicians and creating accessible cultural activities for the neighborhood residents.

The Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to host the Dave Casini Latin Jazz Quartet at the Concerts at the Cadillac, a free concert series open to the public that, since 2007, has provided high-quality music for the residents of the Cadillac Hotel and San Francisco's Tenderloin District.

Friday August 19, 2022 | 1:00pm - 2:00pm

*this show takes place at the Cadillac Hotel! 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102*

About the Dave Casini Latin Jazz Quartet: Dave Casini has been playing jazz in the Bay Area for 50 years. He released two albums of his compositions in 2019, is on CDs with Tribu, Octobop, as well as 9 videos at the Cadillac Hotel. While the pandemic has limited gigging, Dave is the vibist with Primavera Latin Jazz, Joel Dorham’s Latin Jazz Octet, Orion’s Joy of Jazz and drummer with the Bob Roden Quintet. Dave has played multiple performances at the SF Jazz Festival, the San Jose Jazz Festival, Yoshi’s and the Fillmore.

FREE

Open to the public | Mask wearing required

Tenderloin Museum presents an homage to one of San Francisco’s most storied jazz clubs in a day-long mini music festival featuring performances by Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, SF Recovery Theater, plus a community-based music production, Tenderloin Voices, by Bay Area jazz composer, trumpeter and singer Sarah Wilson produced by the Tenderloin Museum in collaboration with Larkin Street Youth Services, Skywatchers, and Tenderloin writer Lyzette Wanzer. Presented as part of Sounds of the Tenderloin, a series of TLM public programs that animate the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live music (made possible by generous support from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass).

Saturday August 13, 2022

12:30 - 5pm; Music starts at 1pm

Location: Dodge Place SF, CA 94102 (SE corner of Turk at Larkin)

FREE

The Tenderloin Museum presents DOTCOM & THE NOISE in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District.

DOTCOM & THE NOISE: Sounds of the Tenderloin at Dodge Alley

Thursday July 21, 2022

Performance 6-7pm | Block Party from 5-8pm

Dodge Place, SF, CA 94102

Free! Outdoors!

All are welcome at Dodge Place on Thursday, July 21st from 5-8pm, with the musical performance from 6-7pm. Free to attend; food & drink by Shovels Bar & Grille available for purchase.

Tenderloin Museum’s Sounds of the Tenderloin series animates the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live performances that explore, deepen, and complicate participants’ understanding of Tenderloin history while supporting local working musicians and creating accessible cultural activities for the neighborhood residents. Support for this event and TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series generously provided by Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

The Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to host Renegade Orchestra at the Concerts at the Cadillac, a free concert series open to the public that, since 2007, has provided high-quality music for the residents of the Cadillac Hotel and San Francisco's Tenderloin District.

Friday July 15, 2022 | 1:00pm - 2:00pm

*this show takes place at the Cadillac Hotel! 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102*

About Renegade Orchestra: Welcome to the Renegade Orchestra–it’s time to throw out all the old conventions of a quiet, sleepy, stuffy show of musicians locked in straight jackets of tradition. Clap your hands, tap your feet, and yell all you want–the Renegade Orchestra embraces the virtuosic skills of top bay area musicians and turns them loose on songs orchestras have never or maybe shouldn’t do.

FREE

Open to the public | Mask wearing required

The Tenderloin Museum & The Tenderloin National Forest are thrilled to co-present Rent Romus and David Boyce for a special afternoon of live music at the Luggage Store Gallery’s enchanting and intimate community arts space, The Tenderloin National Forest. This free show is part of our “Sounds of the Tenderloin” program series which aims to animate the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live music.

Saturday July 2nd, 2022 | 2:30 pm

This double header of sonic explorers pays homage to the expansive legacy of experimental, and improvised music in the Bay Area and in particular the scene’s robust and dynamic node in the Tenderloin. The TL’s longest running venue for these sounds has been the Luggage Store Gallery’s artist run Creative Music Series, which has hosted new music of all stripes and skill levels weekly since 1991. Improvisor/composer Rent Romus has curated the series since 2002, and to celebrate this pillar of the new music scene in SF, TLM has invited Romus to perform in the captivating space that is the Tenderloin National Forest. Romus’ group, Lords of Outland, will be paired with Black Edgar (David Boyce), for an epic afternoon trip through the outer and inner reaches of sonic headspace.

Note! This event takes place at The Tenderloin National Forest: 501 Ellis St. SF, CA 94109

FREE

The Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to host The Jeffrey Chin Trio at the Concerts at the Cadillac, a free concert series open to the public that, since 2007, has provided high-quality music for the residents of the Cadillac Hotel and San Francisco's Tenderloin District.

Friday June 3, 2022 | 1:00pm - 2:00pm

*this show takes place at the Cadillac Hotel! 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102*

About the Jeffrey Chin Trio: Pianist, composer, and recording artist Jeffrey Chin has been playing piano since the age of six, when he began his formal musical training in classical piano under the tutelage of Julia McCaslin and Samuel Rodetsky. During that time, he won numerous scholarships and awards, performing regularly in many open competitions and recitals. He eventually branched out and taught himself to play many other styles and types of music, including what would eventually turn out to be his passion...jazz. Jeffrey currently owns and runs his own recording studio, production company, music publishing company and independent record label. Past touring, recording and performance credits include: Sylvester and the Two Tons Of Fun, Lenny Williams (Tower of Power), Chris Issak, Teddy Pendergrass, Ray Charles, Dolly Parton, Oracle, Adobe, KRON, KMEL, the San Francisco 49ers, and countless others.

FREE

Open to the public | Mask wearing required

Tenderloin Museum and Great American Music Hall co-present Flipper (ft. Fletcher from The Garden on vocals), The Mutants, & Longshoremen together for a special evening of live music that celebrates punk’s under documented roots in the Tenderloin and its crossover with the edgy performance art world of the 1980s.

Thursday May 26, 2022 | Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm

*show takes place at Great American Music Hall! 859 O’Farrell St. SF, CA 94109*

Regular performers at the Sound of Music (on 162 Turk St. in the TL), Flipper conjured an intense, slowed down, heavier than hell sound that was idiosyncratic for its time and developed an influential cult following that included bands like the Melvins and Nirvana. Flipper’s TL bona fides run deep: not only did they frequent the Sound of Music, they practiced across the street at Turk St. Studios, and cut records at Hyde Street Studio.

Also on the bill: SF punk legends The Mutants and “cryptic poetry damage vocal trio” the Longshoremen. The Mutants brought a raucous theatricality to punk music, and their songs oozed with zany wit that captured the zeitgeist of American counterculture in the late ‘70s & early ‘80s. Fronted by a spoken word artist named Dog, the Longshoremen ushered the spirit of Beat poetry into the punk generation. Don’t miss this rare chance to see a trio of titans from SF’s early punk scene in the TL’s most iconic venue, the Great American Music Hall!

$28 advance tickets available online here or in person at the GAMH box office (no fees) | $33 at the door

Blackwell pays homage to the lively San Francisco jazz culture with an evening of live painting, live music, poetry, and performance art.

April 14th 2022 | 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM PST

Visual artist, poet, and playwright Charles Blackwell pays homage to the lively San Francisco jazz culture with Blackwell’s Black Hawk: Painting, Poetry, Performance Art, a multimedia happening inspired by jazz music’s spirit of invention and collaboration. Informed by the Bohemian mash-ups and after hours jam sessions of the ‘40s and ‘50s, as well as by Blackwell’s nearly two decades of creating art at the Hospitality House Community Arts Program, Blackwell’s Black Hawk integrates the artist’s poetry and painting practices with a small jazz ensemble featuring musicians David Byrd (sax), Russell Brown (guitar), Ollie Dudek (bass), and the dancer Andreína Maldonado. Responding to and providing visual accompaniment to the live music, Blackwell stages an up-close and semi-improvised encounter with jazz music and jazz musicians, subject matter central to both his visual art and his poetry practice. Tenderloin Museum is honored to host Blackwell’s work across several mediums–painting, poetry, and performance–as part of TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, generously funded by Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Blackwell’s Black Hawk is an in-person event and space will be limited; vaccination and booster (if eligible) will be required to attend, as will mask wearing. Free or $10 suggested donation; sign up via Eventbrite here.

Free | Suggested donation of $10.

Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blackwells-black-hawk-an-evening-of-painting-poetry-performance-art-tickets-261450865577

Sunday Streets SF returns to the Tenderloin for an afternoon of fun for the whole family on over a mile of car-free streets, featuring a second line procession with the Bay’s best New Orleans style brass band, MJ’s Brass Boppers.

Sun, April 10, 2022 | 11:00 AM – 4 PM PST

Second Line starts at 12PM on the corner of Ellis & Leavenworth

Sunday Streets returns to the Tenderloin on Sunday, April 10th, and the Tenderloin Museum is celebrating with a second line processional along the route with live music by MJ’s Brass Boppers, a nine-piece brass band with the authentic New Orleans sound and roots in the TL. Join us and the whole neighborhood for a funky stroll through the TL! All are welcome and encouraged to march along with the band, dance, and sing along; music starts at 12pm on the corner of Ellis and Leavenworth, and the band will process along the Sunday Streets route along Ellis, Larkin, and will conclude at Golden Gate and Leavenworth at 2pm.

FREE
Learn more here: https://www.sundaystreetssf.com/tenderloin/